Carlos Yulo has spent years carrying Philippine gymnastics on his back. In Sunyi, China, he finally has company.
The Yulo brothers—Carlos, the Olympic double-gold medalist, and Eldrew, a senior circuit newcomer—both advanced to the apparatus finals of the 13th Senior Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships, giving the Philippines something it has never quite had before: two Yulos on the same stage, in the same division, competing for the same podium spots.
It is only the first time they have competed together at this level. It will not be the last.
Yulo Brothers Show Out
Carlos did what Carlos does in the floor exercise—his pet event, the one where he is dangerous by default—posting a 14.430 to lead the qualifiers. He was fourth in parallel bars with a 13.966 and squeezed into the horizontal bar final as the eighth and last qualifier with a 13.466. In the individual all-around, he came agonizingly close to a bronze, finishing fourth with an 81.864 behind China’s Zhang Boheng (85.298) and Yang Haonan (82.398) and Japan’s Miwa Teppei (82.265). Fourth is the cruelest result in any competition. Carlos has been there before. He will want to correct it Saturday.
Then there is Eldrew—and here is where the story gets interesting.
The younger Yulo announced his seniors debut this year, and he has arrived without apology. He qualified for the horizontal bar final with a 13.633—better than Carlos’ 13.466—and claimed the last spot in the floor exercise final with a 13.600. He is not here to observe his older brother. He is here to compete alongside him. In the same events. For the same medals.
The brothers will face off in both the floor exercise and horizontal bar finals on Saturday—a genuinely remarkable scenario that would have seemed premature even a year ago. Eldrew’s early numbers suggest he belongs in those conversations. Carlos’ track record suggests he will be difficult to beat. The most compelling subplot of the weekend might be how the two of them stack up against each other before they both turn their attention to the rest of the field.
A Yulo Takeover in Gymnastics?
The bigger picture, though, goes well beyond Sunyi.
This is a glimpse of what Philippine gymnastics could look like for the foreseeable future. A Carlos-and-Eldrew combination at the Asian Games in Nagoya this September. Both brothers at the World Championships in Rotterdam. And if the trajectory holds—if Eldrew develops the way his senior debut suggests he might—two Yulos at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Philippine gymnastics had one world-class athlete. The possibility of two brothers competing at the highest level simultaneously is the kind of development that changes a program’s ceiling entirely.
Carlos took the floor alone for years and turned it into the most decorated chapter in Philippine gymnastics history. Now Eldrew has joined him—and the Yulo takeover of Asian gymnastics may be just getting started.
